How To Surf Foil with Sky Solbach

Hi, I'm Sky Solbach, and today we're going to give you a little intro into the world of surf foiling. Everything from getting started, which waves to look for, which equipment to use, and then catching your very first waves and getting a feel for the foil. There are a lot of different surf foil wings on the market to choose from. We at Fanatic are constantly developing different wings and have a bunch of different sizes to choose from. So, really, the key when getting into surf foiling is to choose the correct size wing for your weight and the style of riding that you're going to be doing. One of the easiest ways to get your first rides is behind a boat or a jet ski. So if you have one or know a friend who has one, it's the best way to get your first rides. This will save you weeks of time paddling around the lineup because the boat allows you to get up on the foil and get speed in a very controlled manner. So you're able to get up behind the boat, keep your weight forward, keep the board down, and slowly increase the boat speed and shift your weight back and start to get your first flights. Once you've gotten your first rides behind the boat, or if you want to just start straight in the ocean, you're going to want to look for a really small rolling wave, ideally with deep enough water so you're not hitting the ground. The wave should be far enough from shore so you have a good length of ride before you reach the beach. You want it to be uncrowded, and that's really the beauty of foiling is that you don't need to be surfing where there's a lot of other surfers. You can actually pick a wave that's really undesirable for surfing because those are the best waves for foiling. Ideally the wave will be far from shore, just capping enough to sort of push you in and get you up to your feet, and then it can just turn into a rolling swell. And a lot of times you'll find that at beach breaks where they'll break outside and then have a deep gutter on the inside where the waves just roll through to the beach and that's perfect for foiling. Before paddling out for your first session, there's a few things to keep in mind. We recommend wearing a leash. This is not only for your safety, but for safety of those around you. When you let go of a foil board in the lineup, it tends to travel a really long distance, so a leash is a really good idea. Also, if it's your very first session and you're not quite confident yet, it's good to wear some protection. The rail of the board can hit you, the foil can hit you, so it's good to have a little bit of protection, especially on your body. When walking into the water, it's good to keep in mind that the wing does have quite a large span, so you don't want to kick it with your feet. It's good to take a look around in the lineup before you get in the water to make sure there's no shallow spots or coral heads sticking up that you're going to hit. And when walking into the water, if it's shallow, you can turn the board upside down and swim out until you get to deep enough water before flipping the board over and paddling out into the lineup. Positioning yourself to catch your first wave on the surf foil is really important. You don't need to be sitting on the steepest part of the wave to catch it with a surf foil. Ideally, you can just sit inside and actually catch the whitewash reform, because you don't need a lot of power to get up on the foil. So turn around and paddle for your first whitewash, get a little bit of a push, jump up to your feet. One really important thing to keep in mind is you're going to want to stand right directly on the center line of the board. If you jump up and you're a little bit off to one rail, it's probably going to roll you off the side. So as you jump up, foot positioning is also very important to be right down the center line. You're going to want to stay really low and really forward for your first waves until you get a feel for the foil. Staying forward is going to keep the nose of the board down and keep the foil down low in the water. And as you gain a little bit of speed, you can gradually shift your weight back and start to let the foil fly and start to get a feel for the wing. When catching your first few waves surf foiling, it's inevitable that you're going to fall off. And it's really good to know how to fall. So I guess the best tip I can give you is once you're up on the board and you're getting your first few flights, it's really good to stay low. Standing up too tall makes you unstable and you're likely to get rolled off. So staying low and forward is really key in the beginning. Also once you get a feel for the wing starting to rise, it's just kind of natural that you're going to want to start to carve your first few turns. The foil is really sensitive, so you've got to be really gentle when carving your first few turns. And when you're getting rolled off and falling, it's really important to not put a lot of pressure on your legs and try and kick the board away from you, but rather just fall off. And that will prevent the board from flipping and the wing coming into contact with you. When positioning your foil on the board, it's good to keep in mind that the farther forward you mount the foil, the liftier it's going to be. And the farther back you mount it, the less lifty it's going to be. So ideally in small waves, you want to have it mounted a little bit farther forward for a little bit more lift. And in bigger waves, you can shift it back a little bit. Surf foiling can be quite challenging in the beginning, but once you overcome those challenges, it won't be long until you're getting some of the longest rides of your life in conditions you would never even expect to be surfing in.